Kerala's Ayurveda hospitals expect 2021 to bring back medical tourists

Till the winter of last year, Ayurveda Yoga Villa, a research centre and hospital, tucked in the Wayanad district of Kerala, was teeming with European patients. There was a long waiting period for admission and its three properties, including a mountain-top property nearby, were booked in advance for months by foreigners looking for health benefits from the ancient Indian medical science.

The Coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic has changed the industry’s dynamics. Its mountain-top property has shut down and occupancy at its river front property at Kuruvadweep has dropped by half. “We were booked for months in advance by Europeans but after the lockdown in March, there are no takers,” says Ayurveda Yoga Villa founder, Ajay Kumar, who set up the chain after returning from Finland where he was working for decades.

Kumar is not alone. The Ayurveda industry – the mainstay of Kerala’s tourism sector – has taken a severe beating due to the Covid-19 pandemic which has gripped the world since early this year. All bookings for 2020 were cancelled and there are no bookings for the next year for the hotels and hospital chains.

For Kerala, the Ayurveda centres and hospitals not only bring in tax, but also provide jobs to the locals. With the size of the global Ayurveda market expected to touch $10 billion by 2022 from $3.4 billion in 2015, Kerala is in the sweet spot to get a large chunk of this fast emerging market. Kerala already has over 1400 Ayurveda-associated industries with a total turnover of Rs 300 crore and exports of Rs 62 crore in 2016. The industry constitutes 10 per cent of the Indian herbal market worth Rs 4,400 crore.

Although the government has set up a new ministry to promote Ayurveda in the world, it’s the frontline hospitals like Ayurveda Yoga Villa which are doing the job of bringing in the medical tourists and earning foreign exchange for the country.

Outlook 2021

Kumar says the sector will bloom again – provided the Centre and state governments give a significant push to the industry and make it easier to do business. Kerala already has good infrastructure in terms of good roads and airports, but local administration needs to be more business friendly.

''Several European countries are interested in opening such Centres and hospitals and have invited us to invest. But as Ayurveda is an Indian way of life, it will be difficult to replicate this over there,’’ says Kumar.

In 2021, as the vaccine is rolled out across European nations, the patients should start flying in by the middle of next year, hopes Kumar. ‘’We are ready with our infrastructure, including making products in our campus and growing our own organic food. The staff is also keen to re-start as their earnings have also been hit by to the pandemic,” he says.

“We would like to send the message that we are open for business and have taken all steps to provide a safe environment for the patients,’’ Kumar says.